Carbon Footprint of a Cost-optimal HVDC Connection to Import Solar Energy from Australia to Singapore

Srikkanth Ramachandran; Kais Siala; Cristina de la Rúa; Tobias Massier; Arif Ahmed; Thomas Hamacher

doi:10.3390/en14217178

Publication details

Carbon Footprint of a Cost-optimal HVDC Connection to Import Solar Energy from Australia to Singapore

Publication data

Type:

Journal article Open access

Authors:

Srikkanth Ramachandran, Kais Siala, Cristina de la Rúa, Tobias Massier, Arif Ahmed and Thomas Hamacher

Published in:

Energies, vol. 21, no. 14
(Electronic ISSN: 1996-1073)

Publisher:

Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI), Basel (Switzerland)

Publication date:

November 2021

Article no.:

7178

Pages:

1–23

Abstract:

This paper aims to evaluate the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of importing electrical power into Singapore, generated from a large-scale solar photovoltaic (PV) power plant in Australia, through a long-distance subsea high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable. A cost optimization model was developed to estimate the capacities of the system components. A comprehensive life cycle assessment model was built to estimate emissions of manufacturing and use of these components. Our evaluation shows that, for covering one fifth of Singapore's electrical energy needs, a system with an installed capacity of 13.1 GW PV, 17.3 GWh battery storage and 3.2 GW subsea cable is required. The life cycle GHG emissions of such a system are estimated to be 109.5 gCO₂eq/kWh, with the majority coming from the manufacturing of solar PV panels. Cable manufacturing does not contribute largely towards GHG emissions. By varying full-load hours (FLH) and cable lengths, it was assessed that sites closer to Singapore might provide the same energy at the same or a lower carbon footprint and reduced cost, despite the lower insolation as compared to Australia. However, if land-use change emissions are considered, the tropical regions of Southeast Asia might fare poorly in terms of emissions.

Keywords:

Life cycle assessment, Cost optimisation, HVDC cable, Photovoltaics, Australia, Singapore

DOI:

10.3390/en14217178

Further information

Part of project:

TUMCREATE Phase II — Towards the Ultimate Public Transport System

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Format: BibLaTeX BibTeX

@article{Ramachandran_CarbonFootprintCost_2021,
  author    = {Ramachandran, Srikkanth and Siala, Kais and de la R{\'u}a, Cristina and Massier, Tobias and Ahmed, Arif and Hamacher, Thomas},
  title     = {Carbon Footprint of a Cost-optimal {HVDC} Connection to Import Solar Energy from {Australia} to {Singapore}},
  year      = {2021},
  month     = nov,
  journal   = {Energies},
  issn      = {1996-1073},
  publisher = {MDPI},
  address   = {Basel, Switzerland},
  volume    = {21},
  number    = {14},
  pages     = {1--23},
  doi       = {10.3390/en14217178},
  keywords  = {Life cycle assessment, Cost optimisation, HVDC cable, Photovoltaics, Australia, Singapore},
}

@article{Ramachandran_CarbonFootprintCost_2021,
  author       = {Ramachandran, Srikkanth and Siala, Kais and de la R{\'u}a, Cristina and Massier, Tobias and Ahmed, Arif and Hamacher, Thomas},
  title        = {Carbon Footprint of a Cost-optimal {HVDC} Connection to Import Solar Energy from {Australia} to {Singapore}},
  date         = {2021-11},
  journaltitle = {Energies},
  issn         = {1996-1073},
  publisher    = {MDPI},
  location     = {Basel, Switzerland},
  eid          = {7178},
  volume       = {21},
  number       = {14},
  pages        = {1--23},
  doi          = {10.3390/en14217178},
  keywords     = {Life cycle assessment, Cost optimisation, HVDC cable, Photovoltaics, Australia, Singapore},
}

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